That's one billion rickroll moments for the history books.
Dimapur, July 29 (EMN): In what can be described as a pivotal moment in internet history, Rick Astley's video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" has crossed one billion views on YouTube, the singer announced on Twitter.
The music video of Rick Astley’s 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up," went viral in 2007 when someone used it as a prank. The premise of the prank was to let someone click a link to something they wanted to see, however, the link would send them directly to the music video of the British singer. The viral prank trend was later dubbed by the internet as a "rickroll."
"So, I’ve just been told that ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ has been streamed a billion times," Astley said in a video he posted on his official Twitter page. “That is mind-blowing. The world is a wonderful and beautiful place, and I am very lucky.”
1 BILLION views for Never Gonna Give You Up on @YouTube ! Amazing, crazy, wonderful!
— Rick Astley (@rickastley) July 28, 2021
Rick ♥️https://t.co/mzyLznTr4R #NGGYU #NGGYU1Billion pic.twitter.com/p5xnn0OZcZ
In an interview with Associated Press in 2016, Rick Astley told the interviewer that he was originally annoyed by the idea of his video being used for rickrolling. However, his daughter convinced him that it was a cool concept and he then made peace with it.
Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' peaked at No. 1 on March 12, 1988, in the United States, according to Billboard.